Raids across four EU countries target €700 million fraud scheme involving Chinese imports

Law enforcement agencies in Bulgaria, Greece, France, and Spain carried out coordinated raids targeting a criminal network accused of defrauding the EU of €700 million through customs and VAT fraud related to Chinese imports, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) announced.

The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) announced on Thursday that law enforcement agents in Bulgaria, Greece, France, and Spain conducted coordinated raids on Wednesday as part of an investigation into fraudulent Chinese imports to the European Union.

According to the EPPO, criminal networks are alleged to have defrauded the EU of approximately €700 million through large-scale customs and VAT fraud involving goods such as textiles, shoes, e-scooters, e-bikes, and other items imported from China. The proceeds from the scheme were then laundered and sent back to China.

Authorities conducted a total of 101 searches across the four countries. During the operation, ten suspects were arrested, including two customs officers. Law enforcement seized €5.8 million in various currencies, 27 vehicles, luxury items, 11 properties, and thousands of shipping containers and e-vehicles.

Investigators stated that the goods were primarily brought into the EU through the Piraeus Port in Greece. In 2019, the EU’s anti-fraud investigators found that customs officials at the Chinese-owned Piraeus Port failed to stop fraudulent imports.

The imports were substantially undervalued or misclassified to evade customs duties, and their destinations were falsified to avoid paying VAT in the country of entry. The EPPO alleges that the goods were then transported using false documents to France, Italy, Poland, Portugal, and Spain, where they were sold on the black market.

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